Shifnal is a market town in east Shropshire, close to the Telford boundary but retaining its own distinct character — a medieval church, timber-framed buildings on Aston Street and a ring of mixed-farm countryside between the suburban Telford fringe and the Shropshire plain. Its bees work hawthorn, oilseed rape and field maple hedgerows, with a good lime flow in the town centre in June.
Swarms in Shifnal settle on the timber-framed and stone buildings of the old town core, on the church tower eaves and in the tall garden trees behind Aston Street. The agricultural land east toward Tong and Albrighton provides a steady source of feral swarms in late May.
Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.
ST17 0UP· approx. 26 km
Visit websiteSY5 8NP· approx. 28 km
Visit websiteDY9 7PU· approx. 28 km
Visit websiteAssociation data sourced from the British Beekeepers Association directory via SwarmBase.
Early sycamore and hawthorn open on the Severn Valley; oilseed rape is common on the North Shropshire plain. Lime at Shrewsbury, Ludlow and Oswestry gives a strong June flow. Bramble is dense; the mosses of Whixall, Fenn and Bettisfield contribute a patchy but distinctive late summer flow of bog rosemary and cross-leaved heath. The Long Mynd, Stiperstones and Clee Hills provide bilberry and late ling heather — still migrated to by Shropshire beekeepers in August. Ivy on the old red-brick farms and timber-framed cottages closes the year.
More on beekeeping in ShropshireReport it in under a minute and a trained local beekeeper will arrange safe collection.
